Tar washbox apparatus



April 24, 1934. w GARTLEY- 1,956,321

TAR WASHBOX APPARATUS Filed July 18, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 24, 1934. w. H. GARTLEY 1,956,321

TAR WASHBOX APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 18, 1931 AWTOR X Patented Apr. 24, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to apparatus for the manufacture of watergas.

In the manufacture of water gas after the fuel bed has been blasted to store heat in it, water .gas runs are made by alternatelysteaming the fuel bed up and down. Frequently the downrun water gas is ledfrom the base of the generator directly to the washbox. The uprun water gas passes to the washbox by way of the carburetter and superheater in a carburetted water gas set and by way of an igniter or directly 'from the top of thegenerator in a blue water gas set.

"The flow of the gas making steam and the resultant water .gas is controlled by valve means located in the paths of the up and downrun gas between the generator and the washbox.

For instance in a carburetted Water gas set the flow may be controlled by a valve located in the line between the superheater and the washbox and another valve in the line between the base 'of the generator and the washbox. Frequently these two valves are replaced by a three-way valve which puts either the uprun or downrun gas offtakes from the set in communication with the washbox. The gas passing into the washbox is at relative ly high temperature. The precise temperature depends upon operating conditions, but for the sake of illustration the uprun gas from the superheater of a carburetted water gas set may be at 1100 F. while the downrun gas from the generator may be at 600 to 800 F.

These gases occupy correspondingly large volumes because of their elevated temperature. Large valves are required to handle the large volume of gas and valves are required which are capable of withstanding the high temperature of the gas.

The gas prior to its passage through the washbox carries with it considerable quantities of tar, pitch, entrained carbon from the oil, and fine particles of coke and ash from the fuel bed. This material tends to accumulate in the valves and on the valve seats and interferes with their proper operation causing them to leak.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide improved means for controlling the flow through a water gas set which is free from the above disadvantages.

According to the present invention the uprun and down run gas offtakes are led to separate washbox means, each washbox means is provided with a gas offtake leading to storage or other disposal through valve means for controlling the flow through said offtake thereby controlling the flow through the water gas set.

Due to the passage of the gas through the wash'box, the gas is cooled, materially reduced in volume and is cleaned before passing through'the flow controlling valve means. This avoids exposing the controlling valve or valves to high temperatures, permits the employment of smaller and less expensive valves and-greatly reduces the damger of faulty operation due to fouling of the of Figure l, in which the gas offtakes from the divided washbox lead through a three-way valve,

and

Figure 3' shows in partial elevation and'pa'rti'al vertical cross section a carburetted'w'ater gas set equipped with a divided washbox.

Referring to Figures 1 and 3, p

A carburetted water gas set is shown purely for illustration, the invention is applicable'to a blue water gas set as well.

1 is the water gas generator, 2 the carburetter and 3 the superheater. ed with an ignited fuel bed indicated at 4. 5 is the air blast supply means, 6 is the steam supply means for uprunning, 7 is a secondary air supply means, 8 is an oil supply means for carburetting, 9 is a steam supply means for downrunning, 10 is the superheater stack valve.

The uprun gas offtake 11 from the superheater and the downrun gas offtake 12 from the generator lead to separate portions 13 and 14 respectively, of a divided washbox generally indicated at 15. 16 indicates a partition between the two portions of the washbox.

The two portions of the washbox are provided with sealing liquid as by supply means 17 and 18 and with seal pots 19 and 20 and their necessary connections. 21 and 22 are the tar offtake pipes which may lead to the same or to a separate place of disposal.

Section 13 of the washbox is provided with the gas offtake 23 leading through valve 24 to the line to a gas holder or other storage apparatus, not shown.

Section 14 of the washbox is provided with gas offtake 26 leading through valve 2'7 to line 25 to storage apparatus.

The generator is provid- 1 ite its

For illustration valves 24 and 2'? as shown, are operated by hydraulic cylinders 28 and 29 respectively, with fluid supply lines 30 and 31 interconnected so that when one valve is opened the other valve is closed and vice versa.

In operation of the apparatus of Figures 1 and 3, an illustrative water gas cycle will be described.

The generator fuel bed is blasted with air supplied through 5 and the resultant blast gases burned with air supplied through 7, passing through the carburetter and superheater and through the stack valve 10 which is open.

After the air blasting, the stack valve is closed, and with valve 24 open and valve 2'? closed, an uprun is made with steam supplied to the base of the fuel bed through 6. The resultant water gas passes through the carburetter and superheater where it is carburetted with oil supplied through 8 and passes by oiftake 11 to the washbox section 13 and thence through gas offtake 23 and valve 24 to the line 25 to storage apparatus.

' After the uprun, valves 24 and 27 are reversed and, with valve 2'? open and valve 24 closed, a downrun is made with steam admitted through 9. The steam passes through the superheater and carburetter and down into the generator fuel bed,

the resultant water gas passes through gas of:- take 12 to the washbox section 14 and thence through valve 27 to line 25 and to storage apparatus.

The valves 24 and 27 are then reversed again and with valve 24 open and valve 27 closed a short steam uprun is made and the cycle repeated.

During the down run, oil may be admitted at 3 and cracked in passage through the fuel bed.

Referring to Figure 2,

As in Figure 1 the uprun gas offtake 11 from the Water gas set leads to one section 13 and the downrun water gas oiftake 12 leads to the other section 14 of the double Washbox l5. 16 is the partition between washbox sections. 17 and 18 indicate the liquid supply means to the sections.

23 indicates the gas oiftake from washbox section 13 and 26 the gas offtake from washbox section 14. 25 is the line to storage apparatus. The above provisions are all indicated by the same numbers as employed for the same provisions in Figure l.

Gas offtakes 23 and 26 in Figure 2, lead to the three-way valve casing 32 instead of through separate valves as in Figure 1.

Valve disk 33 is operated by shaft 34 and rocker arm 35 to open port 36 and to seat against and close port 3'? putting gas offtake 23 in communication With line 25 and shutting off gas offtake 26 or to open port 3'? and to seat against and close port 36 putting gas offtake 26 in communication with line 25 and shutting oif gas offtake 23.

The operation of the apparatus of Figure 2 is the same as that of Figure 1 except that the flow is controlled by the reversal of the single valve 32 instead of the reversal of two separate valves.

My invention is of particular advantage if in making carburetted water gas, oil is cracked in the fuel bed in the down run as in that run a relatively high free carbon content tar is produced which it may be desirable to keep separate from the relatively low free carbon content tar produced during the up-run. v

I do not intend to be limited in the practice of my invention save as the scope of the prior art and of the attached claim may require.

I claim:

Apparatus for extracting tar from combustible gas including a washbox having an inlet connection and an oiftake connection for combustible gas therein, a second washbox divided from said first-mentioned washbox having an inlet connection and an ofitake connection for combustible gas therein, a line for leading off combustible gas from said Washboxes, a reversing valve casing outside said washboxes having separate chambers connected to said offtake connections from said washboxes, and a separate chamber connected to said line, partitions having ports therein between said chambers connected to said oi'ftake connections and the chamber connected to said line, and a valve adapted to selectively seat on one of said ports and to thereby open connection between one of said oiftake connections and said line and to close connection between'the otherof said offtake connections and said line.

WILLIAM H. GARTLEY. 

